mm146: Left-handers on roll as numbers triple

There is no more appropriate story for a blog very particularly titled Left-Handed Complement than this one from the Sunday Times of London:

LEFT-HANDEDNESS has reached record levels, with a more than threefold rise over the past century in the proportion of those using their left hand to write.

A large-scale historical study of handwriting down the ages by academics at University College London (UCL) has found that the proportion of left-handers has gone up from 3% among those born more than 100 years ago to 11% today.

Chris McManus, professor of psychology at UCL, said the surge in left-handedness may be due to a reduction in attempts to coerce naturally left-handed children into using their right hands.

McManus’s team have reinforced the theory that left-handedness is growing by analysing film shot about 1900 which shows that only 16% of those living at the beginning of the 20th century used their left arms to wave, compared with about 24% of people today.

Your obedient servant happens to be lefty in more than politics, thank you very much.

Can it really be that there are more of us?

Can we really believe a Rupert Murdoch newspaper to get it right?

[Per L-HC’s reformed process, please click the link below for the complete article — but then please come on back!]

Well, they quote an apparent expert, Chris McManus, of whom we found reference at an interesting site, the Left Handers Club. Their page touting Left Handers Day (guys, it was August 13 — we missed it!) has some interesting information, including the always intriguing chart of how the brain is supposedly organized:

No-one has come up with a definitive reason for WHY some people are left-handed, but about 13% of the population around the world are, and it is thought to be genetic – it definitely runs in families. Researchers have recently located a gene they believe “makes it possible to have a left-handed child ” so if you have that gene, one or more of your children may be left-handed, whereas without it, you will only have right-handers – sorry! The good news is, that if you are left-handed yourself, you have that gene and will pass it on through the generations!

Clicking the picture will take you to their page, where you’ll find reference to Chris McManus’ book on the subject of handedness.

[Per L-HC’s reformed process, please click the link above for the complete article — but then please come on back!]

So there are more of us than ever?

If you peruse some of the comments to these stories you’ll find some fascinating insights. Like some of the writers, MUDGE is quite left handed, writing, using silverware, etc., but some things I do right handed.

Baseball: I throw left handed, bat right-handed (just the opposite of what makes a successful hitter these days).

[Aside: MUDGE has a close friend who made a point to train all three of his right-handed sons to bat left-handed. It’s that extra step-and-a-half closer to first base, don’t ya know?]

I’m sure my righty batting, as well as my righty golf swing (academic only; haven’t set foot on a course in 44 years or more) is due to my right-handed parents and teachers of the games.

Computer: Right-handed mouse from day one.

Go figure.

But mostly, a lefty.

Google left handedness and you find some interesting sites, including one or two NSFW. One had an apparent still from The Simpsons of good ol’ Ned Flanders’ Leftorium: